Men's Crew Takes Home Opener Against Boston University

Apr 06, 2002

April 6, 2002

Brown had to work hard to build a one-length lead at the 1,000-meter mark. Coxswain Russ Glenn called for a power 10 which gave the Bears a three-seat lead soon after the start to settle his crew down and another with 700 meters gone which gave Brown a three-seat lead.

The Bears took another power 10 with 1000 meters gone, extending their lead to eight seats. But the Terriers refused to fold and the Bears had to row at 39 strokes a minute from the Narragansett Boat Club into the finish to be sure of holding their lead.
"The varsity was a little bit tight at the beginning, They were under more pressure than the other boats but in the second thousand they settled into it and started to relax and do better," head coach Paul Cooke said.

"We've got some young guys in he boat and it's going to take them a little time to handle the pressure, but that's just natural . They've got one veteran in there -Eric Winters- and I think that's really important."

Victory in the varsity race capped a five-race sweep for the Bears over Boston U., which hasn't beaten Brown in this race for the Michalson Cup since 1987.

"I thought the Js rowed really well,"said Cooke. "They put together a really good race but they weren't pressed."

The second varsity , stroked by Matt Salzler, got off the starting line at 48 strokes a minute and never looked back in winning their race by five lengths.

Matt Carlson's freshman crew started pulled away from BU 500meters into the race and stretched their lead to two lengths at the finish.